Bard v. Philadelphia & Reading Railway Co.

Citations

• 199 Pa. 94
• 48 A. 684
• 1901 Pa. LEXIS 565

Syllabus

<p>Negligence—Contributory negligence—Railroads—“ Stop, look and listen ”—Province of court and jury.</p> <p>In determining the question of the contributory negligence of a plaintiff in a grade crossing case, it is not only necessary to consider the plaintiffs conduct, but also that of the defendant. Both parties have the right to be at the crossing, and each has the right to act with the belief that the other will exercise his right at the place, in the manner and way his duty requires him to do. The duty of the company at a grade crossing is to run the locomotive at a rate of speed, not dangerous to pedestrians exercising due precaution. The pedestrian is justified in believing that the railroad employees will perform their duty in this respect, and can act on this belief without any imputation of negligence. If the locomotive approaches the crossing at such a reckless rate of speed as to prevent the traveler on the highway from protecting himself by the use of sight and hearing, in the position he has placed himself, and which would have been safe had the defendant used the care demanded of it, the plaintiff cannot be charged with negligence.</p> <p>In an action against a railroad company to recover damages for personal injuries sustained at a grade crossing, the case is for the jury where the evidence for the plaintiff, although contradicted in every essential point, is in effect that the plaintiff approached the crossing on a very foggy morning before daylight, that she stopped about twenty feet from the track, from which point on a clear day she could have seen an approaching train for two hundred and fifty feet, that she looked and listened but saw and heard nothing, that she then proceeded slowly, and when in the act of stepping on the track was struck by a locomotive which was running very fast and approached the crossing without giving any signals.</p>